Iowa woman, just 19, charged with defrauding donations by lying she had cancer

An Iowa woman has been charged after allegedly swindling $37,000 from donors by lying she had cancer and a football-sized tumor on her spine.

Madison Marie Russo, 19, was arrested on January 23 after medical professionals reported that she was faking a stage 2 cancer diagnosis by pointing out irregularities in wires and tubes in her “chemo” TikTok videos.

Russo claimed he had pancreatic cancer and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, along with a “football-sized” tumor in his lower back and spine.

Police obtained medical records from the centers where she was a patient that revealed she was never treated for cancer or tumors, according to KWQC. Authorities also discovered that Russo was stealing social media photos of cancer patients and using them as his own.

She posted her $10,000 bail the same day she was arrested.

Police obtained a search warrant for Russo’s apartment in Bettendorf, where they found a brown paper bag of medical supplies, an IV pole with a pump filled with cotton, boxes of clear bandages, wigs and a prescription for nausea made to his name. relative, according to KWQC. .

Authorities found that Russo accepted money from 439 donors, including cancer foundations and school districts. A GoFundMe account showed another $37,303 raised by January 19.

Russo claimed that his alleged medical journey began in February 2022 when he received a call about his diagnosis while attending classes at St. Ambrose University, he said. The North Scott i Pressnth of october

“It was early in the morning and I had been anxiously awaiting the test results,” Russo said. ‘My phone rang and it said, “Iowa City Oncology.” I left the classroom and took the call.

“I was terrified, and I definitely still am. I was in shock. I didn’t think it could be true. I am very young and I was wondering how this could happen. I went through all the emotions and was pretty numb.

The alleged cancer patient claimed that bloody stools, nosebleeds and fevers sent her for lab tests before her diagnosis.

When he received the diagnosis, he said doctors had given him a five-year survival rate of 11 percent.

“I remember hanging up the phone and I was a mess,” she said. “I was literally in tears but somehow ended up working up the courage to wipe my tears away and went back to class, which was pretty crazy now when I think about it.”

At the time, Russo claimed doctors insisted surgery was not a possibility to remove his “football-sized” tumor. They called it “more risk than reward,” Russo said.

Between February and October 2022, Russo alleged that he received about 15 rounds of chemotherapy and 90 rounds of radiation, the news outlet reported. He also insisted that he consult with the Mayo Clinic doctors.

“Life has been crazy,” he said. It’s like a Catch-22. I can’t win by losing. I feel like I’ve been shaken to the core and right now everything is a bit uncertain. I just want to know my game plan, and right now, I don’t know what it is.

“Of course, every day can’t be sunshine and rainbows, but you can’t just choose to be mad at cancer. It just happens to people. If you stay depressed and in a dark space, I feel like your body will never get better.’

Despite Russo’s ‘cancer diagnosis’, he was able to achieve a 4.0 GPA, work part-time and participate in outdoor activities.

Russo’s ‘medical journey’ was regularly posted on social media where he discussed his alleged chemotherapy process and day-to-day symptoms.

“It’s days like these that are hard,” Russo said in an earlier video. “I just have different mixed emotions, and with my hair, and things like that are obviously a big fear, obviously as a kid… hair is a big part of everyone’s life, but to think about the potential of using it, it’s just a anything else… let’s hope nothing else falls off.’

In a separate video, Russo explained that she had a rough week after chemotherapy, but she didn’t feel sick.

“It’s been kind of an eventful week,” Russo said. ‘In the world of cancer, eventful is not good. I’d rather have an uneventful week because that means you’re hanging out.

‘So I’ve had a little bump in the road. It’s my week without chemo so I’ve only been doing radiation. However, I kind of came with this fever. This one is really weird because I don’t feel sick. I don’t really have, like, a cold or, like, sore throat, any of the other symptoms… Just like that exhausted feeling.’

Russo explained that lab tests were returned to him showing a low white blood cell count which was likely because he had just finished chemotherapy.

Police revealed that Russo’s footage of his treatment ‘inside’ a doctor’s office was also taken at his apartment.

Donors were shocked to learn of Russo’s arrests after unknowingly contributing to his scheme.

“I was really speechless when my friend sent me the link and was like ‘hey didn’t you donate to this?'” an unidentified donor told KWQC. “I haven’t donated that much, but you do what you can and you’re surprised.”

GoFundMe administrators sent a notice to Russo’s donors saying they would get their money back in up to seven business days.

Internet sleuths were quick to criticize Russo, finding his hidden mistakes in several of his videos.

One TikToker posted a photo of Russo smiling while attached to a gastrostomy tube that he noted was too far up his nose and a “chest port” had been improperly applied.

‘What’s going on with that chest port?’ one person said in response to the photo on TikTok. ‘I’m not a chemo nurse, but this doesn’t look like a port to me. The bandage is really screwed up.

Another TikToker grabbed his son’s old gastrostomy tube and tried to stick it up his nose like Russo.

“Definitely not comfortable,” she said as she added the caption, “my nose hurt after doing that.”

Russo is scheduled to be arraigned on March 2.